Marianne Thyssen, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, commented: "The European Globalisation Fund is a concrete sign of European solidarity. Many sectors and industries in Europe are going through major structural changes, as a consequence of globalisation. Through this fund, we are supporting the transition of former Alitalia workers into new jobs. Results show an encouraging re-employment rate of almost 50% amongst workers having benefited from this personalised and targeted assistance".
Italy applied for support from the EGF following the dismissal of 1 249 workers in Alitalia. These job losses resulted from the decline of the EU's market share in international passenger air transport between 2008 and 2014.
The measures co-financed by the EGF would help the 184 workers facing the greatest difficulties in finding new jobs by providing them with skill assessment and active job-search support, training, reimbursement of mobility cost to attend training and hiring incentives.
The total estimated cost of the package is €2.3 million, of which the EGF would provide €1.4 million. The remaining €900 000 will be paid by national sources. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for approval.
Background
Over the period 2008-2012, global air traffic increased by 4.6% per year while air traffic between Europe and the rest of the world however grew at a slower pace (2.4%). This led to a decrease of the EU-27's market share in air transport as measured in revenue passenger-kilometres (RPK). In 2013 and 2014 the same trend continued. European air traffic grew by 3.8% in 2013 and by 5.7% in 2014 compared to the previous year but below the world average (5.2% and 6.3% respectively). It now accounts for 38% of world traffic (measured in RPK), one percentage point less than in 2012. The Middle East remains the fastest growing region in the world, expanding by 10.9% in 2013 and 13.4% in 2014 and now accounting for 14% of the world international traffic.
In terms of connecting air traffic, the Middle East is a strong performer, with the three key airports of Doha (Qatar), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Dubai (UAE) serving roughly 15% of all air traffic volume that goes from Asia to Europe and from Europe to the South West Pacific. Overall traffic volume between Europe and Asia is growing by approximately 7% each year, but Europe-Asia traffic routed via the Middle East is growing at roughly 20% per annum. The Turkish Istanbul–Atatürk airport has also increased significantly its capacity to attract traffic flows between Asia and Europe over the period 2004-2013.
The huge increase in the number of passengers carried from/to Italy by companies operating from these airports occurred at the expense of mainly Alitalia. The decrease in the number of passengers transported in 2014 represents a decline by 3.6% compared to 2013 and by 6.4% compared with 2012. This was coupled with the losses accumulated since the full privatisation of Alitalia in 2009, which in the first quarter of 2014 were €1.137 billion. Both events gave rise to 1 249 redundancies in Gruppo Alitalia for which Italy has requested the EGF support.
Most of the redundancies are concentrated in Regione Lazio, where more than 38 000 jobs were lost over the period 2008-2013. Moreover, over the same period, employment in the Italian air transport sector declined almost by 20%. The redundancies from Gruppo Alitalia further aggravate an already difficult employment situation.
More open trade with the rest of the world leads to overall benefits for growth and employment, but it can also cost jobs, particularly in vulnerable sectors and among lower-skilled workers. To help those adjusting to the consequences of globalisation, the EGF was set up. Since starting operations in 2007, the EGF has received 138 applications. Some €550 million has been requested to help almost 130 000 workers.
The Fund continues during the 2014-2020 period as an expression of EU solidarity, with further improvements to its functioning. Its scope has been broadened to include workers made redundant because of the economic crisis, as well as fixed-term workers, the self-employed, and, by way of derogation until the end of 2017, young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) residing in regions eligible under the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) up to a number equal to the redundant workers supported.
